Graduation Test Update:States That Recently Eliminated or Scaled Back High School Exit Exams

(Updated May 2019)

The number of states requiring high school graduation exams in language arts and math has declined rapidly over the past few years. Only eleven states have graduation tests in place for the high school class of 2020, down from a high of 27 that had or planned such tests. The current number is the lowest level since at least the mid-1990s.

With public schools closing for the summer, many states are reviewing their 2015-2016 testing experience (once again, not a pretty picture) and planning to implement assessment reforms in coming years. You can help stop the U.S. Department of Education from promoting testing misuse and overuse by weighing in on proposed Every Student Succeeds Act regulations.

Many states are beginning to review their assessment and accountability systems to comply with the new federal Every Student Succeeds Act. Input from grassroots stakeholders -- particularly parents, educators and community leaders -- can help determine whether the revised policies help improve learning and teaching or simply put a different gloss on failed test-and-punish systems.

Normally, FairTest sends out these news clips summaries once a week, early each Tuesday afternoon. With school standardized exam season now in full gear, however, the flow of stories about testing resistance and reform actions is accelerating rapidly. This special edition -- with updates from more than half the 50 states over just three days -- reports on the first, too-modest steps by policy makers across the U.S. to respond to the growing grassroots pressure for assessment reform.